Introduction

Hi everyone. I have started an acne blog in hopes of helping others on their journey to clearing their skin of acne. Here is my personal story...

My name is Carmen and I'm the owner and operator of Luminosity Skincare. Like many of my clients, I too was a sufferer of severe acne for many years....I started breaking out at a very young age. I remember being only in the 4th grade when I got my first pimples, all located on my forehead. They were three small papules and although I was the only one experiencing breakouts at school, I didn't think much of it and figured I just needed to start washing my face regularly. As the years came and went my breakouts became more severe. I remember being the only student in the 6th grade with full-on acne. My other classmates would get the occasional pimple or two, but it was nothing like what I was experiencing. I had blackheads all over my nose, big painful pustules on my cheeks and my skin was red and rough to the touch. I absolutely hated when it was time to take school pictures and I remember begging my parents to pay extra to have them retouched so that I wouldn't look any different than my other classmates in the yearbook.

Over the years I had tried many different skin care products incuding Proactiv, Clinique's 3 Step Program, Neutrogena, Clearisil and countless other brands. I can remember rubbing my skin raw with St. Ive's Apricot Scrub, hoping that this would be the answer to my acne. Dermatologists prescribed me almost everything they had including antibiotics, birth control pills, Differin, Tazorac, Duac, and Retin A. I also had a series of microdermabrasion treatments at my dermatologist's office. The only thing left that had not been prescribed to me was Accutane. As a teenager I had begged my mom to let me take it but she always refused due to all the side-effects. When I was 19 years old, I was finally put on Accutane. I had hoped it would once and for all clear me of my acne and at first it seemed to be the magic pill that I was hoping for. After 6 months of taking Accutane, my skin had never been more clear. There was not one pimple or blackhead on my face. Unfortunately months later once all the Accutane was out of my system, my skin became oily again and with that the breakouts and blackheads came back (although not as severe as before). While I am very grateful that Accutane lowered my grade of acne, it didn't completely prevent new lesions from forming and worse, I have night blindness as a permanent side-effect.

A few years later I became a licensed esthetician and began my journey of practicing my love of skin care. When I first earned my esthetician license I was very hesitant and worried about landing a job in the skin care industry because I was still breaking out, especially around my chin and jawline. Fortunately I did get offered a job at a day spa in the Preston area of Cary and soon became their head esthetician. Years later I became so passionate about skin care that I opened my own business, Luminosity Skincare. Due to my personal struggle with acne both physically and emotionally, I decided to focus my business on the successful treatment of acne. I have been fortunate to be able to study acne under the guide of Laura Cooksey and Dr. Fulton, two wonderful people who are highly regarded in the skin care industry for their work in treating acne. They are my inspiration and I hope to one day reach and heal as many people as they have.

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